Abstract:

Background: The purchase of counterfeit drugs by consumers is a serious public health problem and there are no sufficient researches dedicated to understanding the problem of drug counterfeiting from the consumers’ perspective.

Aim: The aim of this study to assess factors influencing the purchase of counterfeit drugs among consumers in rural community using the concept of planned behavior (TPB) as a guide.

Methodology: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive research, using pretested questionnaire for data collection to ensure validity and reliability of instrument. A sample size of 236 was used for this study. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.

Results: The respondents mean age is 30.51years (SD=11.46). Findings from this study showed that 139(58.9%) of the respondents were males while 97(41.1%) were females. Majority of the respondents 56(23.7%) reported the cost of the drug as frequently used means of identification of counterfeit drugs in the community. Respondents perceived associated risk of counterfeit drugs includes: unexpected side effects 33(14%), allergic reactions 38(16.1%), worsening of their medical condition 48(20.3%), death 46(19.5%) and overdose 19(8.1%). Findings from this study also showed a correlation between behavioural intention and attitude (R= 0.64). Subjective norms were associated with behavioural intention (R=0.65) but was not significant at 0.005. There was also an observed significant relationship between behavioural intentions and motivation (R = 0.52).

Conclusion: Drug consumers mainly use cost of drugs as a means of identification of counterfeit drugs. Consumers behavior, intention and attitude towards counterfeit drugs are correlated.

Keywords: counterfeit drugs, consumers perspectives, planned behavior.

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